


Leo

by strawberryCC



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Bakery AU, Fluff, M/M, Narry - Freeform, Sweater weather, Zayn being attractive, lilo, puppy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-01
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-04 18:22:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3080639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberryCC/pseuds/strawberryCC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry finds a puppy, takes it home and feeds it blueberries.<br/>Cuteness ensues, but he soon finds something even more adorable - the owner.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The street is wet with rain as Harry's brown boots skid along the pavement. He's headed to the corner store for some crisps, it's Saturday night and he has a date with his couch for a Bates Motel marathon on Netflix.

The bell chimes noisily, kindly informing everyone in the small store of his arrival. Walking over to the snack isle, his green eyes quickly scan over the variety of flavors and he grabs the first bag that suit his tastes.

The female cashier - who looks around his age - smirks as he plops the sour cream and onion flavored treat on the counter.

"Hey there cutie, shouldn't you be out partying tonight? Or maybe with a girlfriend?" she quips, clearly eyeing him up and down.

Harry pulls a five out of his wallet, a bit annoyed that the girl hasn't yet scanned the item so he could leave.

She continues, flipping her long brown hair, "Oh? Maybe you're single? I wouldn't have guessed that, you are pretty hot."

It's true. Standing tall at 5 feet 11 inches, his tan skin is peppered with tattoos. He has thick, dark curls that everyone wants to run their fingers through, rosy, plump lips that everyone wants to nibble on, and dreamy green eyes that everyone wants to see trail down their bodies.

Normally, Harry would politely explain he's not interested, but it's cold and the rain is falling heavier every minute and he just wants to go home. Once the girl finally realizes she has no chance, she swipes his purchase and tosses it into a plastic baggy.

He hears the bell ring again along with a faint "Please come again!" as he exits.

The walk home is only about 10 minutes, but the weather makes it feel more like he's treading across the country. He likes rain quite a bit actually, but someone stole his umbrella a while back in the subway and he's never gotten around to buying a new one.

Halfway home, a muffled noise catches his attention. Taking a couple steps back, the curly haired boy looks to his right into an alleyway, presumably where the sound came from. He hears it again, leading his eyes to a ratty, old box. His feet carry him towards it without full consent, only stopping when a small puppy's head pops out from the cardboard.

To be specific, it's a young german shepherd.

Green eyes look around for the owner, only to find the streets void of life. _Of course_ , he thinks to himself, _It's Saturday night and everyone's either out partying or getting frisky with their significant other_ ; the female cashier's face briefly flashes in his mind before his focus returns to the puppy. It's wet and shaking and alone, looking up with big droopy eyes, as if expecting something.

So Harry does what any other person with a heart would do in such a situation. He leaves it there and heads back home.

Just kidding.

Laying the plastic bag of crips on the floor, Harry kneels down and gently picks up the puppy, settling it into the chest of his heavy coat, in hopes of keeping the rain from assaulting the poor thing any longer and supplying it with a little warmth. Once it's comfortably and securely fitted, he reclaims the bag of creamy goodness off the floor and heads home.

The door of his apartment slams shut as a set of keys and a grocery bag are tossed onto the nearby table. He removes his sopping wet coat and tosses it on the table, too (the puppy still in his hands).

The house is nice and toasty, fireplace lightly crackling as he grabs a dry towel from a nearby cabinet and leads the pup to the living room. It settles on a large soft couch, peering up at him.

"Hey buddy." Harry coos while carefully drying off the yipping animal's fur. It doesn't show any obvious signs of physical injury, happily jumping around and wagging its tail.

Thats when he notices the small, guitar pick-shaped dog tag.

"Leo"

Harry checks the back of the tag for any additional info, there is none.

"Well then, Leo." Harry spares a glance at his wrist watch, "It's a bit late to take you to the shelter, so you'll hafta spend the night here with me. I'll take you over in the morning. How does that sound?" he asks, lightly scratching behind the puppy's ear.

"Yip!"

Harry smiles and grabs a remote, switching on the flat screen mounting the wall across from the couch. Now, he isn't a rich kid or anything, spent a good four months saving every bit possible from his part-time job down at the local bakery to buy that tv. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday nights are devoted to organizing sweets within the display cases, cleaning the work space, and cashiering at the popular pastry shop. A university student's life is hard work.

He runs to the kitchen for his chips, and realizes the puppy must be starving. Checking the fridge and seeing there's not much of anything inside, a groan escapes his crimson lips, reminding him of why he journeyed out into the rain for a bag of crips in the first place.

There is a box of blueberries, though, and he can't help but hear his friend Louis' voice in the back of his head explaining " _Dogs can eat mostly anything! But don't feed it chocolate or grapes cause they have some weird toxins that can hurt 'em._ " Good to know. Thanks, Louis. For once his random outbursts comes in handy.

He walks back to the living room and cozies into his favorite spot on the couch, the slight dip in the material evidence of the consistent Saturday night Netflix marathons Harrys become accustomed to.

He's not a loner. He hangs out plenty with Louis and his other college mates during the week, but ultimately, no one can resist Netflix.

The familiar creepy theme song resonates throughout his flat and he feels Leo crawl onto his lap. "Hey boy, you hungry?" he opens the box of blueberries and takes a handful, presenting it to the puppy.

He sniffs at it for a while, giving Harry enough time to question whether or not dogs even eat blueberries. They do. Leo is chomping down the sweet berries, eagerly licking away at Harry's palm when its empty. He laughs at the ticklish sensation and sets the box in front of the dog who readily feasts on them.

Nearly 5 episodes pass before he yawns, his watch reads half past 2 in the morning.

A half eaten bag of chips lays to his right, Leo is asleep in his lap, and an empty blueberry container is somewhere on the floor.

Turning off the telly, Harry calmly cradles the puppy in his arms and walks to his room, curling up with the dog under his covers and mumbling a soft "Good night."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Something wet evades his space and his eyes shoot open. It's Sunday morning, and Leo is licking away at Harry's face.

"Good morning, boy!" he pets the german shepherd's soft fur. The short hairs are mainly tan in color with a large black spot along his spine. The fur at his snout, small round eyebrows, and tips of his ears are black as well.

Harry traces a yellow ray on his blue comforter back to his disheveled window blinds. It's noon now, and his shift at the bakery is from 3 to 11 pm, supplying him with plenty of time to visit the local shelter.

After a shower he finds himself in front of the closet, throwing on a white open neck t-shirt and tight skinny jeans. He stuffs most of his curls under his favorite dark green beanie.

Leo fits snugly in his arms after he slips on a heavy coat and heads out. It's not raining today, but the sky is still dim and the wind remains icy cold.

It takes about a 20 minute walk to get there. The lobby is small an stuffy, with a few teary eyed people hoping to find their lost pets. Harry glances over to them, half expecting one to look back and claim Leo. No one does.

The lady at the counter smiles politely at Harry, sweetly greeting "Hello. How may I help you?" Her name tag reads 'Chanel', she has pretty, bright pink hair and looks to be in her early twenties.

"I found him last night" drawing Chanel's kind eyes to the puppy in his hold "has anyone reported loosing a german shepherd puppy? His name is Leo."

Harry counts the rings on her fingers as she clicks away at a keyboard, searching for results on the Mac's screen.

"I'm sorry, no reports as of yet. You are more than welcome to drop him off here with us, or I can give you the addresses to other nearby shelters." She kindly informs.

Leo licks his chin, causing Harry's eyes to drift down and meet the puppy's own. It would probably be best to drop him off here, but for some reason he just doesn't want to.

Chanel watches them fondly before stating "If you want, you can fill out a 'found' form and hold onto him until someone claims him."

"Really?" Harry smiles at her, receiving another lick to his chin. "That sounds great, thank you."

\--

He walks blissfully down the street holding the puppy close. "The bakery probably doesn't allow dogs, but you're pretty small, maybe they'll make an exception."

The bakery is a nice size, plenty of room to comfortably fit six tables on the smooth, hard wood flooring (each seat four people). The cashier counter is nestled in-between two large glass display cases, housing new warm delectable treats every day. The scent of freshly baked bread spreads throughout the space and colorful flowers line the entrance. It's pretty and inviting, making it a popular destination for the townsfolk.

A cute flower shop down the street trades some of their finest flowers at the end of every week in return for a supply of the bakery's most famous treats.

Propping the back door open, he enters the 'employees only' room and startles at someone gasping out "Harry!" He cringes, recognizing the familiar voice of the shop owner right away.

"Good afternoon, Ma'am." he responds, voice soft.

She is middle aged, short, and never seen without a flour-caked apron tied around her round tummy. Her aged eyes watch the puppy carefully, before she finally lets out a sigh.

"Good day to you, too, I'll let this slide, but only because it's you, Harry. Make sure he doesn't get near the kitchen." He is a hard working employee and gains quite a few loyal customers, likely due to the way his cute dimples reveal themselves around his charming smile.

"Thank you, Ma'am!" He hangs up his coat and secures an apron to his waist - even though his shift doesn't begin for another hour - before carrying Leo into the main room, behind the counter.

Louis is there, manning the cash register, and just as he hands a customer their change his head whips around to Harry, not missing a certain ball of fur.

"Oh my god!"

Harry braces himself, taking a step back.

"HE'S SO CUUUTE!!" Louis hops over, reaching over to pat the puppy's head when his hand gets slapped away. "Ouch! Harry, why'd ya do that?" Louis rubs at his hand and Harry rolls his eyes, knowing full well that he didn't hit it hard enough to cause any pain.

"You're working right now and it's unsanitary for you to handle the merchandise after petting a dog." The door bell rings softly as a few new customers enter, gaining the bickering employe's attention and Leo noticeably wriggles around in his arms.

It's two boys, around Harry's age, maybe a year older, like Louis. He recognizes the taller of the two as the son of the owner to the flower shop down the street.

He's got tan skin and tattoos, much like Harry. He's incredibly attractive, nice jaw line and cool gaze, accumulating a few glances and giggles from the female customers in the bakery. Zayn. The name replays in Harry's mind, knowing he's heard it before. Zayn has come over a few times to trade their shop's flowers for his baked goods.

The shorter of the two is the one that really catches Harry's attention, though. His small hands are clinging to the hem of his oversized sweater and his tight dark wash jeans mold around his legs nicely. His dark brown roots reveal the fact that his quiff is either dyed or bleached a nice, pale blonde. His eyes are large and deep blue, and he resembles a frightened kitten.

And, he's crying.

Those big azure eyes can't hold back the flood of heavy tears running down the boy's flushed cheeks.

Harry's eyes squint a bit when Zayn throws an arm over the shaking boy's shoulders, but the odd bubbling feeling in his chest fades quickly when he realizes it's just a kind gesture to help calm the blonde down.

"I...I just... -hic- .." the boy sputters.

"It's okay Ni, here, lets go take a seat, Liam said he's almost here." Zayn reassures him, slowly leading him to an empty table.

Harry feels the urge to do something, anything, just so the boy could stop looking so sad - when the door slams open.

It's a tall, fit boy, and despite his tough body, his face is gentle and he looks like he would make a great older brother.

"Niall!" The sniveling boy looks up at his name being called, his big eyes lock onto the calm brown ones of his friend.

Liam - Harry assumes is his name from what Zayn mentioned earlier - swiftly walks over to Niall and they meet in a snug hug. He soothingly rubs Niall's back, "What's wrong Ni? Zayn said you locked yourself in your room last night and wouldn't come out till now, weren't you supposed to be at the adoption center so you could finally claim Leo?"

"Yip!!"

Harry goes still.

The three boys look towards him and the blonde haired boy's eyes stretch impossibly large.

"Leo?"

The puppy yips happily at Niall and the boy removes himself from Liam's hold, running towards Harry.

"Oh, uh, is this your do-" Harry's words die out when the only thing separating him from Niall is the counter and Niall's eyes are sparkling as he stares deep into Harry's own green ones.

"Where did you find him?" the boy's voice comes out shaky. "Oh- I uh, found him in an alley by my house - last night - and took him home, ah, I fed him, a bit, and took him to the shelter when I woke up- so.. he's yours?" Harry asks, extending his arms to hold the pup out closer to Niall.

The puppy jumps into the shorter boy's arms and licks away at his face like he's ice cream on a hot summer day. Harry briefly thinks he would like to taste the boy too, when he notices a familiar glint of metal. It's a necklace Niall has on, the slim silver chain holds a guitar pick tag matching Leo's.

Harry just stands there for a bit, thinking about how adorable Niall is, how utterly blissful he seems to finally have his puppy in his hold. Niall is peppering kisses all over Leo's face and the shepherd yips happily.

"Thank you so much, how can I repay you?" His tears have stopped, but his cheeks are still a bright red, most likely from sobbing earlier. Most likely. Niall looks sweeter than the strawberry scones they've just set into the glass displays and Harry wants to eat him up.

"No, it's fine, I'm just glad he's found his owner." Somehow, Niall's face sweetens even more at the comment, and Harry stuffs his hands into the front pockets of his apron to keep himself from doing anything rash.

"Well" a voice pipes up from behind Harry.

"You and your friends can come to a party I'm throwing at my place tomorrow." Louis prompts.

"R-really? That sounds fun, but, that isn't really repayment, is it? That-" "It will most definitely count as repayment!" Louis cuts the blonde off, his eyes obviously tracing up and down Liam's body from across the room.

Liam and Zayn are still at the table, just out of hearing range, talking to each other.

"Ohh!" Niall giggles in understanding. Harry's hands ball into fists. He's too cute.

"Sure! That would be so much fun!" Niall says, taking out his phone and exchanging it with Lou's so they can add each other's information. Once they return each other's phones, Niall stares at his phone in his hand and takes notice the boy's name is Louis. After flipping it in his hands a few times, his big blue eyes slowly look up at Harry.

"Ah.. could we.. maybe..." Harry looks at the phone being held out to him and takes it happily, handing his own to Niall.

When they exchange their phones back, Liam and Zayn are walking over.

Zayn gives Harry a friendly smile, they're not best friends but they know each other well enough.

"Props to you Zayn, for suggesting meeting at this shop. I can't believe we found him here." Liam says, leaning close to Niall so he can scratch behind Leo's ears.

Both Harry and Louis tense up at their interactions, and Zayn gives a knowing smirk.

"Oh hey, could i get three of those strawberry scones? They look really good." Liam asks, moving away from Niall much to Harry's delight.

"Sure!" Louis almost yells and swiftly bags up three strawberry scones before Harry has a chance to move. Harry notes the light blush spreading over Lou's face, knowing it's Lou's week to make the scones and muffins so he is probably internally screaming at the indirect compliment.

Louis hands Liam the bag, and Liam gives him a confused look. "Uh, how much-" "Don't worry about it, it's on the house for you." Lou emphasizes the last word.

Harry holds back a laugh. Usually Lou is really smooth at picking people up, but instead of his voice being full of confidence, it's incredibly shaky. Lou notices this, too, and hides his deepening blush by looking down.

"Thank you so much." Lou's neck snaps up and he sees a beautiful, gentle smile gracing the tall boy's face. Lou swoons. He literally teeters side to side and his knees go weak.

That's when Harry's laugh finally escapes him, joined by Niall and Zayn.

Lou's face lights up red and he makes a noise before running off to the back room.

"Is he always that cute?"

Harry is surprised by Liam's comment, but before he could reply, he realizes that probably means Liam isn't into Niall after all, and he involuntarily fist pumps the air.

The sweetest sound he's ever heard rings through his ears again, Niall's giggle. "So, see you tomorrow, Harry?" He could only nod in response, and waves when the three boys and the puppy leave the shop.


End file.
